1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement over storable/slidable seat apparatus for automotive vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, with automotive vehicles, such as station wagons of a type having no partition between the cabin and the trunk or of another type having the engine provided beneath the driver""s compartment or vehicle compartment, there has been a demand for increasing the rear luggage storage space as much as possible. To meet such a demand for the largest possible luggage storage space, various techniques have heretofore been proposed which are designed to allow a rear seat (second- or third-row seat) to be pivotally flipped upwardly to be stored against a side wall defining the vehicle compartment. Examples of these various proposed techniques include a xe2x80x9claterally storable and slidable seat apparatusxe2x80x9d (literally translated) disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. HEI-10-264692.
The disclosed seat apparatus includes a first sliding rail disposed on a raised floor portion proximate to a side wall of the vehicle bodywork, and a second sliding rail disposed on a central floor portion lower in level than the raised floor portion, with a seat base (normally, a seat cushion) being mounted on these first and second sliding rails for sliding movement in a front-and-rear direction of the vehicle. Specifically, the seat base is mounted on the second sliding rail via a catcher attached to the second sliding rail and a striker attached to the seat base. The catcher and striker are releasably engageable with each other. The seat base is mounted on the first sliding rail in such a manner that it is pivotable about a horizontal rotation shaft. When not necessary, the seat base can be flipped upwardly to an upright stored position against a side wall of the vehicle bodywork, by pivotal movement about the horizontal rotation shaft.
More specifically, by canceling the engagement between the striker and the catcher, the seat base and second sliding rail can be disengaged from each other, so that the seat base can be flipped upwardly about the rotation shaft to be stored against the side wall as noted above. After the lift-up of the seat base into the stored position, the second sliding rail is left exposed on the floor.
In the prior art storable/slidable seat apparatus like the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. HEI-10-264692, the second sliding rail, thus left on the floor after the lift-up of the seat base, results in relatively large projections and depressions on the upper surface of the vehicle floor. Such projections and depressions on the vehicle floor tend to interfere with loading or unloading of goods into or from the vehicle compartment, and thus some improvement must be made to increase or maximize the available space of the vehicle compartment.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a storable/slidable seat apparatus for a vehicle which can maximize an available space of a vehicle compartment when the seat base is in an upright stored position.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storable/slidable seat apparatus for a vehicle, which comprises: a slide mechanism provided on a given portion of a vehicle bodywork proximate to a wall of the vehicle bodywork, the given portion being at a higher level than a central floor portion of the vehicle bodywork, the slide mechanism being slidable in a front-and-rear direction of the vehicle bodywork; a pivot mounted on the slide mechanism; a seat base slidable in the front-and-rear direction of the vehicle bodywork, the seat base being connected to the pivot so that the seat base can be pivotally flipped upwardly and stored against the wall via the pivot; and a leg member attached to an underside of the seat base, and extending downwardly from the underside of the seat base to support the seat base against the floor in such a way that the seat base is slidable relative to the leg member in the front-and-rear direction of the vehicle bodywork.
When the seat base is flipped upwardly to be stored against the wall of the vehicle bodywork defining the vehicle compartment, the leg member slidable relative to the seat base is moved upwardly together with the seat base. At this time, a sliding mechanism, which causes the seat base and leg member to slide relative to each other in the front-and-rear direction is also moved upwardly together with the seat base and leg member; thus, after the flip-up of the seat base to the upright stored position, no sliding mechanism causing the seat base and leg member to slide relative to each other is left on the floor of the vehicle bodywork. This arrangement can eliminate or minimize depressions and projections on the floor after the flip-up of the seat base, which thus allows the available space in the vehicle compartment to be significantly increased or maximized and also facilitates loading or unloading of goods into or from the vehicle compartment.
In a preferred implementation of the invention, the seat base has a recess formed in the underside thereof. Sliding rail, on which the seat base is slidable in the front-and-rear direction, is received in the recess, and the leg member is attached to the sliding rail. With this arrangement, the sliding rail is prevented from projecting from the underside of the seat base into the vehicle compartment when the seat base is flipped upwardly to the upright stored position.
The storable/slidable seat apparatus may further comprise a first slide lock mechanism for controlling sliding movement of the slide mechanism, a second slide lock mechanism for controlling sliding movement of the seat base relative to the leg member in the front-and-rear direction, a slide-lock canceling lever for canceling a locking state of the first and second slide lock mechanism, and a pivot cover covering the pivot and having a depressed portion. The slide-lock canceling lever is provided so that a distal end portion of the slide-lock canceling lever projects only into the depressed portion of the pivot cover. According to the present invention thus arranged, only when a human operator or passenger inserts his or her hand in the upper depressed portion of the pivot cover to thereby intentionally manipulate the slide-lock canceling lever, the locking state of the first and second slide lock mechanisms can be canceled.
Preferably, the seat base has, on the underside, a hook that lockingly engages with a given portion of the wall when the seat base is in the upright stored position. The hook is stored by making use of an empty space beneath the seat base.